Friday, December 21, 2012

On Torture. The Swedish-media paradox and the case Assange

The day after the internationally publicized speech
of Julian Assange from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in
London, where he remains in political asylum amid 746 days in which Sweden has
deprived him of basic human-rights – Swedish leading paper Dagens Nyheter (DN)
publishes a one-page editorial on moral issues about torture
that countries should observe. Countries are name-given, but not a single word
about Sweden’s own wrongdoings and which even ended in UN sanctions for Sweden’s serious violation of the UN Absolute Ban On Torture.
The DN-editorial even utters – as in the figure of taking away dust from the
shoulders with one snap – “For others, perhaps already being in a incommunicado
cell it experiences as torture”. But that it is exactly what Assange has
undergone after Sweden issued the absolutely unnecessary arresting-order
that threw Assange – without been charged – to an incommunicado cell in London, waiting for the hearing! And with the threat he shall be, again,
immediately incommunicado if extradited to Sweden!

Dagens Nyheter (DN) is the leading Swedish
newspaper. Self labelled as an independent liberal, although ”liberal” in
Sweden political culture is not the same as in the US – where liberals are
often ascribed/ascribing to a rather social-liberal or left-liberal ideology.
The “liberal” party in Sweden is a right wing party, and to a great extent even
support the monarchy institution – as the “leftist” social democrats also do.
(As a mater of fact, most of the Swedish political parties are supporters of a
monarchy regime. This is obvious; otherwise the monarchy institution in Sweden
would have been abolished by the Parliament a long time ago. I will come
back to this item in the coming days when analysing the historical
relationships of Sweden with geopolitical Neutrality).

My opinion – I have read DN daily for forty
years now – is that it is a newspaper that could eventually qualify for best
professional-journalistic standards, if not were for an intrinsic paradox, an
apparently inbuilt bias present in almost the entire Swedish media. This is one
side of the paradox:

A number of the DN articles or reportages are
social-minded, or humanistic minded, and some really scrutinize in what it
would be considered truly journalistic fashion. Like inquiring into some of the government
democratic flaws or wrongdoings – controlling those in power. For
instance, in the last month we have read in DN important reportages on the
systemic errors of the Swedish Police that directly or indirectly criticize the
ministry of justice; the scandals in the Swedish health care system with direct
criticism of Sweden’s health authority – Socialstyrelsen; the dramatic
reports on increasing, massive cases, of children that are evicted from their
homes together with their families amid an anti-human policy making
people homeless for not being able to pay the rent in time. This, in a
rich country distinguished nowadays in the EU for its main banks that show
record profits, a country whose “economic crisis” is not those people’s fault.
And not only that; the Editor-in-chief of the political redaction, a young man
named Peter Wolodarsky, runs weekly two-page editorials, several of them with
outstanding critical insight with regard to democratic rule – last,
characterizing the Swedish Finance Authority board “antidemocratic”, for taking
aggravating decisions on the national debt of Sweden without the consultation
of Parliament or of the people.

On the other hand, when it is the opportunity to
analyse issues related to the international prestige of Sweden, DN – as well
nearly every media in Sweden – loses the professional-journalist stature that
otherwise would characterize the paper. In those items of Sweden’s
international behaviour or the international criticism that such behaviour
would entail, those in power are not
controlled – the professional journalist is converted in the political
establishment’s megaphone. That is the other side of the Swedish publicist
paradox.

And I exemplify DN for being the “dean” of
the Swedish press, but this paradoxical behaviour can be observed in all the
rest of the media – including the national TV (SvT) or Radio that from time to
time also exposes isolated scandalous abuses of power or corruption. But when
it comes to issues questioning Swedish institutions, the system, they drop objectivity as per
default.

And here is where the Assange case comes into
context. DN has been no exception in the Swedish media crusade in the biased
presenting of the “legal process” against the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange,
or in the demonizing portrait of Assange. For deeply in reality the
issues around WikiLeaks are all issues which compromise Sweden’s foreign
policy, as the issues around the “legal process” compromise the prestige of
Sweden and the potential of exporting a unique juridical culture and specific
legislation.

It is here where the apparently kamikaze or
reckless campaigns such as Prataomdet – where DN and other media repeated in
every article the same anti-Assange introductory text-mantra – find its
political puzzle box.

And here is where the Swedish culture of consensus,
the monolithic, rock-solid uncritical that all the political parties, all the
MSM and the state-owned media have demonstrated on and on when it comes to
maters of “national interest” [See chapter III - Background B: Sweden is not neutral and above all, Swedish media
traditionally covers Swedish international disputes by plainly repeating the
official line without further question itin “Does
Sweden Inflict Trial by Media against Assange?"].

In other words, this is intellectual chauvinism.
And chauvinism has nothing to do with patriotism. For being patriot is to
defend the interest of the people, the interest of the country – which is not
per definition equated with the interest of the rulers, or of the geopolitical
alliances those in power subscribe in secrecy on the back of the people.

One of these secret agreements of government
officials with foreign powers, was the collaborationist agreements of the
Swedish ministry of Justice – and the Swedish Foreign Office – with political
and intelligence services of the US, such as CIA, initiated – best put it –
increased all along the last decade and beginning with the Göran Persson
regime, being minister of justice Thomas Bordström.

As a result of these collaborationist agreements,
conducted in secret and without the consent of Parliament, resulted in the
illegal extradition of political refugees in Sweden, handed over to CIA
operatives to be taken for torture elsewhere. Those were the “rendition
flights” and one of those cases become public after exceptional investigative
circumstances.

This was the so-called “Egyptians case”. Sweden was
discovered, and as a main actor in this anti-human crime the UN sanctioned
Sweden drastically. For the crime was not about a minor issue. Sweden had
committed a serious “violation
on the United Nations Absolute Ban On Torture” – a Convention that Sweden
(as well US) had signed.

The fact that Sweden has such record in proceeding
with illegal extradition cases to foreign powers [see The
Assange Extradition Case Revisited] and particularly of prisoners requested
by US, has been a main argument in the position of the legal team of Assange
advisers recommending him to fight an extradition to Sweden.

The DN-editorial even utters – as in the figure of
taking away dust from the shoulders with one snap – “For others, perhaps
already being in a incommunicado cell it experiences as torture”. But that it
is exactly what Assange has undergone after Sweden – absolutely unnecessary –
issued the arresting order that threw Assange – without been charged – to an
incommunicado cell for a week, waiting for the hearing! And with the threat he
shall be, again, immediately incommunicado if extradited to Sweden!

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In a given moment of the text, the author writes,
“For others perhaps already being in a incommunicado cell experiences as
torture” (“För andra kanske redan isoleringscell upplevs som tortyr”).
But that it is exactly what Assange has undergone after Sweden – absolutely
unnecessary – extended the arresting order which thrown Assange to an
incommunicado cell for a week in waiting for the hearing! Why is DN not
mentioning this real Swedish-case?

That is the other side of the Swedish media
paradox. And those are the matters compromising the notion of objectivity, or
professionalism, that the leading Swedish newspaper should instead be giving an
example of.

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